What do you expect when you pick up a Marvel comic? Super soldier serums, gamma radiation, and some random hookups? After all, romantic relationships have provided some of the comic giant’s greatest moments and biggest jaw drops.
Unpredictable romance happens when you wrangle a massive cast of characters through one of the longest-running continuous stories ever written.
Soap opera elements have been crucial in Marvel Comics’ tale of ordinary people achieving the extraordinary since the early 1960s. But those decades and a mix of creators and titles have meant for every Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, there are a few pairings that haven’t worked out.
On the live-action Earth-616, the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t had as much time to explore the complex relationships of the comics. That may be a good thing. This list shows that we’ve been robbed of as many awkward trysts as lasting romances. Grab some roses for the love that the MCU has, so far, denied us and our favorite superheroes.
Thor & She-Hulk
One that we can file under “maybe.” Marvel’s strongest pairing is a relatively recent development in the comics — the two Avengers took some time out from battling Dark Celestials to share a battlefield kiss and then date in the Savage Land. Their flirtation needed a resolution, but it’s hard to see how that can carry over to the MCU, despite the two characters being present and correct.
As of the end of Phase 4, the Thundergod is deep in an intergalactic fight alongside his adopted daughter, while She-Hulk is Earth-bound. Jen Walters may be looking for love after a run of bad luck, but her best chance for match-maker — her cousin Bruce Banner — is also off-planet. It’s probably just as well: as an intellectual match, it’s hard to fathom.
Jessica Jones & Scott Lang
Brian Michael Bendis’ Alias was the ground-breaking series that asked what a superhero could do after coming back down to Earth. Some deft retconning presented ex-Avenger Jewel, better known as Jessica Jones, as she began a second career as a private investigator. We know all about her romance with Luke Cage from her Netflix series. What we haven’t seen is her comic book romance with Ant-Man. Yes, she and Scott Lang were navigating the complexities of trust and Jessica’s past abuse when she revealed to the ex-con that she was pregnant with Cage’s child. Lang abruptly ended their relationship while Jones went on to marry Cage.
While we hope there’s more from Jessica in the MCU, it’s doubtful she’ll even meet Lang after his tangles with Kang, let alone date him.
Gamora & Tony Stark
Of all the Avengers, Tony Stark has to be high on the list for inter-universe romances, despite his enduring relationship with Pepper Potts.
One of his most unexpected pairings has to be Thanos’ adopted daughter Gamora. The pair formed a bond when Stark spent some time off-Earth in 2013, ending when he returned to his home planet and Pepper. In the MCU, Gamora may have been robbed of her relationship with Star-Lord Peter Quill, but Stark’s sacrifice has ended a live-action repeat, at least in the main timeline.
The end of the first season of What If..? threw the pair together in a parallel reality. A missing episode explaining how the couple made it to that finale, and the origin of Iron Man’s Sakaaran armor, could also confirm their relationship during the second season.
Hawkeye & Scarlet Witch
Wanda Maximoff’s relationship with Vision remains definitive, impressively working on page and screen (where the fallout was longer than the romance). It’s even overshadowed Scarlet Witch’s impressive list of suitors.
Those include Hawkeye in one of Marvel’s strangest romances. To the archer’s credit, he’d had a soft spot for his mutant teammate since the early 1960s. But who knew their relationship would involve him romancing a Doombot imposter or her killing him during the tumultuous Avengers Disassembled arc?
Captain Marvel & War Machine
Carol Danvers rose above high-profile relationships with the likes of the original Mar-vell to become a prominent independent superhero. However, the military bonds she shares with James Rhodes have meant a lengthy relationship in the comics, albeit with a few breaks. At one point, Marvel even had a one-night stand with Doctor Strange after breaking up with Rhodes.
The two are still active in the MCU, so a romance isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. However, they are unlikely to meet for some time (not least because Cap spends a lot of time off-Earth), and there is a considerable age difference on-screen.
Captain America & Thor
Yes, you read that right, but it was the Sam Wilson incarnation of Cap and the Jane Foster version of Thor that had the hots for each other. Once again, things look dicey for this relationship in the MCU, given the direction Jane’s story took as she wrapped up her romance with Thor Odinson in Thor: Love and Thunder.
In the comics, the pair kissed after joining Iron Man’s All-New, All-Different Avengers in 2015. The relationship didn’t go much further, but it intrigued readers as much as it shocked their teammates.
The Winter Soldier & Black Widow
It would have been quite the pivot for this pair to have had a relationship in the MCU, not least Black Widow’s return. The comics added much more to their animosity when they introduced Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier in the early 21st century. In continuity, the pair started a forbidden relationship when the Winter Soldier trained Natasha Romanoff in the Soviet Union’s Red Room Academy during the Cold War.
The pair were separated, and memories of their bond washed away for 50 years, and after they met again as enemies, the Winter Soldier regarded their brutal conflict as further punishment. Their long separation is a significant part of their relationship in the comics. Thanks to a variation on the super soldier serum, Widow enhanced immune system has dramatically slowed her aging since WWII, so the pair bring a lot of baggage.
Black Widow & Daredevil
Matt Murdock has an impressive romantic history in Marvel Comics. The Netflix TV series introduced his great relationship with Karen Allen, but one of his superhero romances was with Black Widow Natasha Romanoff. It was significant enough for the Daredevil title to be renamed Daredevil And The Black Widow for 15 issues in the 1970s.
While Daredevil is gearing up for his high-level MCU return in Born Again, Natasha is destined never to meet him (unless she makes an impossible comeback in an event like Secret Invasion). That said, her sister Yelena Belova is quickly establishing herself as the new Black Widow just as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen makes his presence felt again.
Tony Stark & Wasp
You might think Socialite Janet Van Dyne had a thing for unpredictable, super-intelligent Avengers, given her fling with Tony Stark after breaking up with Hank Pym during his public disgrace. The relationship devastated Pym, and Captain America tried to talk Stark out of it. But in the end, it ended when the diminutive superhero finally realized that Stark and Iron Man, one of her ex-husband’s oldest allies, were the same person.
In 2018, the problematic romance was rekindled in the comics when Tony Stark awoke from a coma, in a distinct departure from the ongoing movie series that saw Stark marry Pepper Potts during the Blip. In the current continuity, Iron Man sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos while Jane Van Dyne was trapped in the Quantum Zone for much of his life.
T’Challa & Storm
A relationship that’s endured after it came out of the blue. In the comics, the pair’s history was retconned to grow from a childhood friendship. When the great Avenger and powerful mutant married during the devastating Civil War of 2006, a Watcher even attended it as a moment of notable peace and unity.
Sadly, circumstances in the MCU mean T’Challa has departed the movie universe before Ororo Munroe has had a chance to appear, let alone foster a romance. Still, it’s hard to imagine Storm will debut in the universe without some connection to Wakanda or the lasting influence of her solid top-tier relationship in the comics.